Doug Stephen is Politely Peeved

The decision was long, and complicated, and if you have the time/you’re interested in these sorts of legal proceedings1 then you should read The Verge’s live coverage transcript.

The short version is that, while details are still being ironed out, Samsung got hosed. Of note is the fact that not only did the jury find Samsung to be infringing upon many of Apple’s patents as well as diluting the trade dress of the iPhone, they did so “willfully”, which greatly increases the penalty under U.S. Patent Law and shows that it isn’t just the Applerazzi that thinks Samsung was just producing high-quality Asian ripoffs.

John Gruber summed up my feelings on this trial almost verbatim, so I’ll quote him here:

I think Apple deserves to win, and from what I’ve read of the trial’s evidence and arguments, I suspect they will win. But I think the net result will be an affirmation of the U.S. software patent system, which is not good at all.

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